Chapter 4 We Wait

Lily

By the time Jinx and I made it back to the clubhouse, I was wound so fucking tight I could feel it behind my eyes. Not tired. Not exactly. Just... furious. At the warehouse. At the men loading women like cargo. At the fact that I had sat there and watched. At the fact that Jinx had been right to stop me.

The main room was louder than it had been when we'd left. Music played low from somewhere behind the bar. Victor was arguing with Marcus over whether buying six cases of beer qualified as "necessary club expenses," while Elias sat at the end of the bar drinking coffee like he hadn't spent thirty years surrounded by idiots.

Knox looked up the second the front door opened. His eyes went straight to me. Then Jinx. Then the camera bag in my hand.

"Church."

That was it. No hello. No kiss. No how was surveillance, sweetheart? Just President Knox. Fucking wonderful.

Jinx leaned toward me. "He's so romantic now."

"Shut up."

"I miss when he was emotionally available."

"He was never emotionally available."

"True."

Knox pointed toward the hall. "Now."

Jinx sighed. "See?"

I followed him toward Church, resisting the urge to throw something at the back of his head. The patched members filtered in behind us. Darius was already seated at the Vice President's spot, sleeves pushed to his elbows, a notebook open in front of him. Elias took his regular seat. Victor dropped into his chair. Atlas appeared silently enough to make me jump. Marcus came last with a stack of paperwork clutched to his chest.

Knox sat at the head of the table. That still did something weird to me. Lucian's chair. Except it wasn't Lucian's anymore. It was Knox's. I wondered how long it would take before I stopped thinking that.

Jinx dumped his bag onto the table. "Three confirmed females."

The room changed instantly. No jokes. No bullshit.

Darius looked up. "Confirmed trafficking?"

"We couldn't confirm restraints on all of them," Jinx said. "One had her hands behind her back. Barefoot. Oversized shirt. No visible personal belongings."

I slid the camera over. "I got photos of the van, two plates, four men, loading doors, camera positions, and the women."

Darius started flipping through them. "Good."

"I also got timestamps."

"Better."

Jinx tapped one of the photographs. "This guy has a neck tattoo. Partial face, but I can clean it up."

Knox nodded. "Do it."

Jinx was already standing. "I'll run the plates, faces, property owner, shell companies, utilities, anything attached to the address."

"How long?"

"Depends on how stupid they are."

Victor leaned back. "So ten minutes?"

Jinx grinned. "If we're lucky." He headed for the door, then stopped, looked at me. I already knew what was coming. "Don't start a war while I'm gone."

I flipped him off. "Love you too."

"Unfortunately mine."

"Get out."

He laughed and disappeared down the hall toward his office.

The second the door shut, I looked at Knox. "When are we going back?"

His expression didn't change. "We aren't."

I stared. "What?"

"We've got what we need."

"No. We have photographs."

"And evidence."

"There are women inside that building."

"I know."

"Then why the fuck are we sitting here?"

Victor quietly leaned away from the table. Smart man.

Knox folded his hands. "Because we're not storming a trafficking warehouse blind."

"Why not?"

His eyebrows rose. "Would you like the alphabetical list or chronological?"

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

I shoved my chair back. "Knox—"

"No." That one word made something in my chest snap.

"No?"

"No."

I laughed sharply. It wasn't funny. "You're really going to sit there and tell me we wait?"

"I am."

"For what?"

"A warrant."

I stared at him, then laughed again. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Lily."

"No." I stood. "We saw them. We saw three women."

"Exactly! We don't know who's inside."

"I don't care."

"I do."

My palms slammed against the table. "You didn't see them."

The entire room went silent. Knox's eyes hardened. "I've seen enough."

"No, you haven't."

"Lily—"

"You didn't see the girls in those tunnels." His jaw clenched. I heard Elias shift beside me. Didn't care. "You didn't walk into that room and find them curled up together because nobody came fast enough."

My throat tightened. Fuck. Not now. I swallowed hard. "We were too late for them, Knox." The words came out quieter. That was worse. "So what happens if we're too late again?"

His expression changed. Just slightly. But I saw it. "I am not doing that again."

"You think I want to?"

"Then let me go back."

"No."

My hands curled into fists. "There are women in there!"

"And if I send you into that warehouse and somebody panics?" His voice rose. "If one of those men starts shooting?"

"We shoot back."

"And what happens when they're standing between you and the women?"

I stopped. Knox stood now too. "What happens when you've got ten armed men in that building and twenty terrified women trapped between them?"

Silence.

"You think I'm trying to protect the traffickers?"

"No."

"Then stop acting like it."

That pissed me off all over again. "Don't fucking talk to me like I'm a child."

"I'm talking to you like Shadow." The title landed hard. "Shadow watches."

"I did watch."

"Then trust what you found."

My eyes burned. "I don't trust waiting."

"I know."

A chair scraped. Darius stood. "Okay." Neither of us looked at him. "Sit down."

I snapped my head toward him. "Excuse me?"

He walked around the table. "Both of you are right, which is somehow making both of you fucking unbearable."

Victor muttered, "Thank God somebody said it."

Knox glared at him. Victor suddenly found the tabletop fascinating.

Darius stopped in front of me. "Lily."

"I'm fine."

"Didn't ask."

I crossed my arms. He crouched enough that I had no choice but to look at him.

"You found them."

"That's not enough."

"No." His voice was calm. "It isn't." Something about that took the fight out of me faster than if he'd told me to relax. "Yesterday, we didn't know that warehouse was active."

I looked away. He gently caught my chin. "Look at me." I did. "You found them." A pause. "You found the door."

My throat tightened. "So what?"

"So now somebody with twenty federal agents, medics, warrants, transport vans, and victim advocates can kick it down properly."

"But what if they move them?"

"Then we follow the vehicles."

"What if they kill them?"

"They're more valuable alive."

I flinched. Darius saw it. "Ugly truth."

"I know."

"Then use it." I swallowed. He stood. "Give me an hour."

"For what?"

"I'm calling my old partner."

My eyes narrowed. "The FBI?"

"Yep."

"You trust him?"

Darius hesitated. Not long. But long enough. "I trust him to hate trafficking more than he hates bikers."

Victor snorted. "Low bar."

Darius looked at Knox. "I'll send the evidence myself. I'll stay on him until somebody moves."

Knox nodded once. "Do it."

I looked between them. "And if they don't?"

Darius met my eyes. "Then you and I will have a different conversation."